The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-09-07
THE BUSY BEE.
Some of Its Wonderful Working
Habits.

11UO1COs
The picturesque and traditional straw
hive is nowadays used only in those
rural communities where the people
cling to the ways of their fathers.
The hive of the past was q chamber
in which the bees were left to their own
devices, prey to their natural enc
mics and unnatural ills, and from
which their honey product was only
obtained by ruthless slaughter of thu
honey-makers themselves, who were
smothered in the fumes of sulphur and
birthstone.
The hive of the presents structure
any part of which can at any time be
reached Or removed by the bee-keeper,
who may thus practically exercise a
control over the work of the bees, and
study their singular habits.
In our study of the subject, let us
start with an empty hive, modern, of
course. 1t may be one of fifty different
kinds, or shapes, but il will have GER
tain features common to ALL There
will be some ten shelves. or frames,
fitted one above another or hung
downwards in row, with q sufficient
space between each. and around each,
TO allow the free passage of the bees.
The spaces must not be larger than
This, or the bees will fill them with
comb and honey, and thus render it
impossible for us to have access to the
various frames without cutting away
the deposit.
Into this empty hive we put swarm
of bees. If we revisit it in two or
three days, we shall find that a marvel
GUS change has taken place in the in
terror. The frames are all filled with
blocks of honeycomb, tiny waxen
cells, hexagonal in shape, and built
with all the nicely and precision of
skilled engineering. This is the first
of the many wonders which character
ICES the work of the beehive. Here is
a miniature city, constructed out of a
delicate and yet strong fabric, and
built according to the most exact
geometrical principles. 1t has been
the wonder of naturalists and mathe-
maticians for ages, not merely the fact
of o building, but the manner of build
ing. In the structure of these
hexagonal cells, the bee has solved for
itself an intricate mathematical prob
lem. 1t has chosen the form which
the science of geometry has proved is
the only one suitable to the various
purposes for which the honey-comb is
designed, and it used this form ages
before men knew any thing of geom-
etry.
Having built their city, the bees next
proceed to put it in order and furnish
their dwellings. We will assume that
the season is spring, as We should by
no means have put the swarm into
new hive after the honey season, leav-
Ing it unstocked for the winter. The
principal member of the colony is the
queen, whom you can easily distinguish
from all the rest, because her body
is longer than the others, and because
she carries herself in royal fashion,
surrounded by retinue of loyal
attendants. The queen is, properly
speaking, the mother-bee. Each bee in
the hive is her own child There are
thousands of these children. A. pros
porous and well-stocked hive will con-
tam from twenty to fifty thousand and
even sixty thousand bees. They are
divided into two workers and
arones The workers are females, but
'hey have no offspring, The drones
are males, and. as their name inn
pies do not work. They seldom
form more than fiftieth part of the
population of the hive.
The mother-bee, or queen, to use the
name by which she is best known, has,
apparently, some weather signal serv-
ice OF her own, for she seems to know |
whether or not the season will be pro-
uuc'ive OF honey, and to lay her eggs
accordingly. If the season is forward |
'ae begins her work early in the |
spring; if it is backward she defers it
.or Few weeks or a month. She pro-
uuces from two to three thousand eggs
e'esy twenty-four hours. depositing
each one in separate cell, which she
nfss closely examines to see whether or
no 1t is in proper order.
Inc iarv@ which issue from these
eggs in the course of three or four
uays are assiduously attended by bees
"ho act the part of nurses, and event
usi,y close the mouths of the cells
WIN waxen cover In twentv-one
nays "a nom the time the eggs were laid
.ae inmates OF the cells break through
u INC waxen lids and issue forth in the
snape OF perfect worker bees. They
are s then taken in charge by the nurses,
~. no evidently explain to them the
,r .e o, the hive, and in another day or
s"9 sney venture out upon the world
~ suu pegin their work in the fields and
,neauows, The birth of a drone is at
NJ eu oy similar processes, some-